Water shoots out of skimmer basket

[New2Me]

I have seen pictures on this forum of a filter filled with a concrete like sand. Cement had gotten mixed in with the sand prior to installation, and it was not the correct sand anyway!

The type of sand commonly used in pool filters is #20 silica sand, sometimes called sharp sand. The stuff you get at the home centers is NOT what you want.

Pool store "Filter Cleaner" , over-zealous use of flocculants and plain old calcium can also plug up a filter, (as can adding too much DE, but it usually will backwash out ).

 

[gbranton]

What I'm worried about is that it's an old filter and the internals might be fragile if they are made of plastic.

I can't tell all of you haw relieved I am that it's in the filter and not underground between the the filter and the pool.

 

[FLElectric]

Obviously this thread is OLD but it's the exact problem I just had and since no one really gave an answer or posted if it was solved I figured I would post what fixed mine. When shutting it off it would backflip everything out of the filter basket. Turns out wife had come home to the pool getting just low enough it was sucking air into the skimmer and had an air pocket in the filter under pressure so when pump would turn off it depressurized backwards. Backwash mode on filter filled it back up in about a minute and havent had the problem since. Next time ill just make sure the pool is full before I leave town for the weekend